VBL Therapeutics Shamed by NASDAQ FiascoIPO retracted by company after trading only four days

Foreign press is calling it “the most embarrassing IPO fiasco of the decade.” The initial public offering of VBL Therapeutics was terminated by the company’s underwriters, Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo, after trading for only four days. US venture capital fund The Keffi Group Ltd. failed to follow through on a $30 million commitment to purchase stock, thereby forcing the company to retract its IPO.

The Keffi Group owned a 24% stake in VBL Therapeutics before the IPO, and the company’s president also serves on VBL’s Board of Directors. According to Globes, “the official statement said that the fund had liquidity problems caused by the withdrawal of money deposited with it between the pricing and the closing.” As a result of the termination of the underwriting agreement, no shares will be issued.